Africa Day is an annual commemoration on May 25 of the 1963 founding of the Organisation of African Unity (OAU). On this day, leaders of 30 of the 32 independent African states, at the time, signed a founding charter of the OAU in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. In 2002 the OAU established its own successor, the African Union (AU).

However, the name and date of Africa Day have been retained as a celebration of African unity. Africa Day is celebrated in various countries on the African continent and by African diaspora communities.

Africa Day is intended to celebrate and acknowledge the successes of the Organisation of African Unity (OAU now the AU) in the fight against colonialism and apartheid, as well as the progress that Africa has made, while reflecting upon the common challenges that the continent face in a global environment.

PURPOSE AND OBJECTIVES

The AUDA-NEPAD theme for Africa Day was ‘Creating Conducive Conditions for Development & Health Security in the Context of COVID-19.’

The purpose of convening the webinar was to engage with fellow Africans on the efforts to accelerate and amplify Africa’s economic and social development as requisite conditions to not only silence the guns, but in also mitigating impacts of COVID-19.

The following were the objectives:

1. Highlighting the position that it is only through inclusivity and multi-sectorality that we will be able to address the economic, social and political root causes of instability.
2. Currently, there are about 600 million young people in Africa that are not employed, are uneducated or are in insecure employment. The webinar therefore aimed at illuminating the need to invest in economic development and entrepreneurship.
3. The commemoration on Africa Day in 2020 finds us in the time of COVID-19.  While this is a challenging time not only for the African continent but for people worldwide, the webinar sought to highlight opportunities through which safety nets can be embedded in COVID-19 responses in order to ensure that peace and stability on the continent are maintained, and development is sustained.